Gbinije’s Career Game Propels Orange to Senior Day Victory

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Michael Gbinije saved his best performance for his last game in the Carrier Dome, racking up a career-high 34 points to help the Orange men (19-10, 9-7 ACC) defeat the visiting North Carolina State Wolfpack (14-15, 4-12) 75-66 on Saturday afternoon.

“Mike was unbelievable,” head coach Jim Boeheim said. “He put us on his back and carried us.”

Gbinije’s 34 points were the most by an SU player since Rakeem Christmas scored 35 against Wake Forest in overtime last season. Gbinije said the performance was even more special considering it fell on Senior Day.

“It’s emotional. I remember transferring in with guys like James Southerland, who was still on that team, people like that,” Gbinije said. “So you start to have a whole bunch of flashbacks all at once.”

Sluggish First Half

The Orange men needed Gbinije’s hot hand early, as neither they nor the Wolfpack shot the ball well in the game’s early stages. Gbinije hit three of his first five shots, but the rest of the team looked like they had not found the shooting touch they’d lost in their recent defeats.

Some sloppy passing by the Orange resulted in nine first-half turnovers. However, strong defense and rebounding by Syracuse held NC State to just 26 points in the first half.

The Orange men weren’t dissuaded by their early misses, especially from the three-point line, where they attempted 19 shots from distance in the first half alone, making seven of them. The last of the bunch came from Malachi Richardson with six seconds left in the half to put SU up 34-26.

Gbinije Catches Fire

After putting up 12 points in the first half, Gbinije only got better in the second.

On 7-9 shooting from the field (as well as 4-6 from deep), Gbinije scored 22 points in the second half, never allowing the Wolfpack to get close enough to scare Syracuse. A big dunk midway through the second half put the Orange up 56-44 and energized the entire arena. No matter where he was shooting from, Gbinije could do no wrong.

“As the game progressed I started to test things out,” Gbinije said. “Shot after shot, I felt good, I felt good, and all of a sudden…I just had a good game.”

It was a fantastic performance all-around for Gbinije, as he also finished with six assists, four rebounds and three blocks.

“It was his game,” Boeheim said. “Probably as good as any senior’s ever had that I can recall.”

The Wolfpack cut the lead down to six (60-54) with less six minutes to play. But Gbinije’s 10 points down the stretch put the game out of reach.

Bounce-Back Performances

Gbinije’s big day was a welcome sign after he scored just 10 points in last week’s loss to Pittsburgh. But he wasn’t the only one who rebounded from that disappointing performance.

Malachi Richardson also played a great all-around game a week after scoring just six points. The freshman finished with 13 points, seven assists, six rebounds and three steals.

Despite finishing with just four points and three rebounds, Tyler Roberson looked much livelier against NC State then he did against Pittsburgh, a game in which coach Boeheim openly criticized his energy and effort.

Game Notes

Gbinije, fellow grad student Trevor Cooney and walk-on Christian White were honored in a
pregame Senior Day ceremony at mid-court.

Cooney's Senior Day was not as memorable offensively as Gbinije's. He had five points in 32 minutes and went 0-6 from three-point range.

The Orange did a great job against NC State’s star point guard Anthony “Cat” Barber. Barber came into the contest leading the ACC with more than 23 points per game; he finished the afternoon with just 15, and failed to record a single assist.

“You’ve got to get back on him and keep him out front,” Boeheim said about Barber. “Point guards don’t generally score against us a lot.”

Caleb Martin led the Wolfpack with 18 points, while Abdul-Malik Abu recorded a double-double (14 points, 12 rebounds).

Up Next

The Orange faces quite the test heading south to take on the #7 North Carolina Tar Heels (23-5, 12-3 ACC) on Monday, Feb. 29^th at 7:00 p.m. The Orange lost to UNC 84-73 at the Carrier Dome in Boeheim’s first game back from suspension.